Don’t Miss Tom Flynn’s Secular Southwest Tour This Month!

Tom Flynn, Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism and Editor of FREE INQUIRY magazine, is bringing his unique wit and insights on
freethought and religion in politics and culture to the great Southwest.

Later this month, with dates in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, Tom will
give presentations on church-state separation, the demographics behind the “rise of the nones,” and, of course, what’s wrong with Christmas.

(See why Tom is
also known as “the Anti-Claus”.)

The Lectures:

“The Trouble with Christmas” Illustrated Edition

Tom Flynn has been recounting the history of the year-end holidays — and offering his rollicking rationale for why secular humanists should just sit out
the merriment — since his book The Trouble with Christmas was published in 1993. Now, Tom has reconceived his talk as a lavish Power- Point presentation
with almost 300 slides. He’ll probe where our most treasured holiday traditions came from — from the Christ Child to Santa Claus, from the wassail bowl to
the tannenbaum — and ask whether there’s still time to send them all back. Don’t miss it!

“The Naked Public Square”

Think way, way beyond what current law allows—what kind of long-term future should American secularists strive for? A future defined by faith-based
initiatives or a naked public square? One where religious expression resounds through public institutions and public spaces or where thoughtful people
confine such things to the private realm? Tom Flynn offers a personal argument for why secularists should dream big and strive for a tomorrow where public
spaces truly are “religion-free zones.” Agree or disagree, you won’t want to miss this engaging and provocative presentation.

“Who Are These Doubters, Anyway? The Demography of Unbelief”

You’ve seen the various religion polls and the reported percentages of unbelievers—and the polls vary widely. Which surveys are reliable? Which are skewed?
In a lavishly illustrated presentation, Tom Flynn explores how sociologists and pollsters have measured—and mismeasured—religious belief and unbelief from
the mid-twentieth century to today, complete with all the controversies and scandals. What do polls on religion really mean? (For example, how many of
those “no religious preference” people are really atheists?)

The Council for Secular Humanism—housed at the Center for Inquiry—is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization promoting rational inquiry, secular
values, and positive human development through the advancement of secular humanism. The Council, publisher of the bimonthly journal Free Inquiry,
has a website at www.secularhumanism.org.

The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a nonprofit educational, advocacy, and research organization headquartered in Amherst, New York, with executive offices in
Washington, D.C. It is also home to both the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism. The mission of CFI is to foster a
secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. CFI‘s web address is www.centerforinquiry.net.